Role of HAMP domains in chemotaxis signaling by bacterial chemoreceptors.
Bacterial chemoreceptors undergo conformational changes in response to variations in the concentration of extracellular ligands. These changes in chemoreceptor structure initiate a series of signaling events that ultimately result in regulation of rotation of the flagellar motor. Here we have used cryo-electron tomography combined with 3D averaging to determine the in situ structure of chemoreceptor assemblies in Escherichia coli cells that have been engineered to overproduce the serine chemoreceptor Tsr. We demonstrate that chemoreceptors are organized as trimers of receptor dimers and display two distinct conformations that differ principally in arrangement of the HAMP domains within each trimer. Ligand binding and methylation alter the distribution of chemoreceptors between the two conformations, with serine binding favoring the "expanded" conformation and chemoreceptor methylation favoring the "compact" conformation. The distinct positions of chemoreceptor HAMP domains within the context of a trimeric unit are thus likely to represent important aspects of chemoreceptor structural changes relevant to chemotaxis signaling. Based on these results, we propose that the compact and expanded conformations represent the "kinase-on" and "kinase-off" states of chemoreceptor trimers, respectively.
Khursigara
Cezar M
CM
Laboratory of Cell Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
Wu
Xiongwu
X
Zhang
Peijun
P
Lefman
Jonathan
J
Subramaniam
Sriram
S
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D002628:Chemoreceptor Cells / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D002633:Chemotaxis; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D008024:Ligands; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D000072236:Methyl-Accepting Chemotaxis Proteins; D008745:Methylation; D046912:Multiprotein Complexes / Q000737:chemistry; D010770:Phosphotransferases / Q000378:metabolism; D011485:Protein Binding; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D015398:Signal Transduction
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D008024:Ligands; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D000072236:Methyl-Accepting Chemotaxis Proteins; D046912:Multiprotein Complexes; C000607604:tsr protein, E coli; D010770:Phosphotransferases